It is well-known in the art of line production to provide an accumulation conveyor between a product conveyor and a product processing station. Such an accumulation conveyor allows to move the products along an expandable travel path whose length is adjusted with the fluctuation in product processing production.
Some accumulation conveyors include one or more adjacent lines, each having parallel infeed and discharge belt sides. The travel path is adjusted by varying the length of each line by moving a main carriage therealong. A secondary carriage is provided, usually behind the main carriage in a back to back configuration, to close the loop of the transport belt. Both carriages are movable in unison via a secondary belt.
A first drawback of such line accumulation conveyors is that they require frequent tension adjustment of their secondary belt. The tensioning is either performed by a maintenance worker or automatically by a tensioning mechanism provided thereon.
Another drawback of conventional line accumulation conveyors is that they require a relatively large amount of space that is not used for the accumulation function.